Effort To Recall Shelby Clerk Dies

A recall attempt targeting Shelby Township Clerk Terri Kowal has failed.

The deadline for the submission of voter signatures, which would have prompted a special recall election against the 21-year official, was Feb. 23.

The process against Kowal began in August 2010 when Joy Sebastian filed a recall petition with the Macomb County Elections Committee.

The petition claimed nepotism for a Feb. 2010 vote Kowal made to approve a promotion for her daughter, Amy Drake, to become the township’s senior coordinator.

Later, Kowal told Patch that it's against the law not to vote, unless she had recused herself, which she suggested to the board before the vote. Kowal said none of the board members thought it was necessary.

The Macomb County Elections commission does not address the validity of the recall charges; it only decides whether the language submitted is clear.

Once the language is approved, petitioners have 180 days to get the required number of signatures.

In Kowal’s case, neither Sebastian nor anybody else submitted the necessary 7,000-plus signatures to prompt a special recall election.

“I feel really saddened by the recall,” Kowal told Patch previously. “I have been here 20 years now and there has been no hint of that. Obviously, sometimes people disagree with the way board members vote and they see a recall as an automatic course of action."

While the deadline has passed for Kowal, five of her colleagues are still the subjects of active recalls.

Trustees Under Fire

Politics in Shelby Township have been explosive in the past year.

At nearly every Board of Trustees meeting, residents gather at the podium during the public comment portion to express their distrust with the board and discontent with their decisions.

At one point in 2010, all seven board members were subjects of active recall efforts, including some on multiple occasions.

"The fact that the entire board is facing recall is an embarrassment and not fair to the residents. This type of 'comical' politics hasn't happened in Shelby since the late '80s," said Lisa Manzella, a Shelby Township trustee board member who is the latest member to undergo the recall process.

Manzella is in a legal battle with Michael Ward, the filer of a recall petition against her.

Ward’s recall petition takes issue with Manzella’s vote in favor of extending Shelby Police Chief Robert Leman’s contract. Ward claims Manzella was given "preferential treatment" in a single car crash she had in 2005.

Manzella is suing Ward, claiming the language he used on the recall petitions against her was defamatory. Ward has filed a counter lawsuit claiming the statements he made against Manzella are factually true and she must be held at a higher standard because she's a public figure.

Ward has until June 12 to collect the necessary signatures to recall Manzella.

The following members of the board of trustees are under active recall:

• Supervisor Richard Stathakis: recall language expires May 21

• Treasurer Paul Viar: recall language expires June 12

• Trustee Michael Flynn: recall language expires July 6

• Trustee Douglas Wozniak: recall language expires July 6

Over the weekend, petitioners with a group called Save Shelby went door-to-door asking for signatures to recall Viar.

A special recall election could cost Shelby Township taxpayers nearly $30,000, Kowal told Patch, not to mention the additional resources that would be needed to verify the validity of the signatures collected.